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Ask the Umpire …

 

Each week Jeff Kleiner, the supervisor of umpires for the New Hampshire Baseball Umpires Association, will address rules related to high school, college and professional baseball in Kleiner’s Korner. Any question you would like answered can be emailed to nhhardball@gmail.com.

NOTE: Kleiner’s Kormer will appear each week in The State of Baseball column, the first of which is scheduled to run April 18 (evening)

QUESTION: Runner on third with one out. The batter makes contact with the catcher’s mitt before hitting the ball, which rolls fair and allows the run to score. Is the ball dead when the bat hits the mitt (catcher’s interference) or can the play continue? Also, what would the call be if the bat hit the mitt, but not the ball, and the ball still went fair?

ANSWER: This is catcher’s obstruction (interference is by the offense and obstruction is by the defense). It is a delayed dead ball and play continues.  The offense has the option of the result of the play, which I’m sure they will take the run.  This is the case whether the ball is hit or not.  The catcher created the obstruction and put the offense at the disadvantage.

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